Senior horses show up to capture Pegasus World Cup
Saffie Joseph Jr. rolled 7’s Saturday, and the payoff was huge.
The trainer’s two 7-year-olds — Skippylongstocking and White Abarrio — ran 1-2 in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
“As 7-year-olds, it’s rare for these two dirt horses to be good,” Joseph said after his two senior citizens stole the show in Florida’s richest race. “To have both of them run like they did today…”
Joseph, Gulfstream’s leading trainer, was nearly at a loss for words.
While the 10th running of the Pegasus lacked a true headliner (lightly raced Disco Time was the 3-2 favorite), it didn’t lack for familiarity.
Skippylongstocking and White Abarrio have been fixtures on the local scene for years. Skippy was making his 13th career start at Gulfstream while White Abarrio — so old now that his gray coat has turned almost completely white — was making his 11th.
But because White Abarrio has been the more successful of the two — winning the Florida Derby in 2022 and Pegasus World Cup last year — bettors gave him stronger support at the windows. White Abarrio went off as the third choice at odds of 3-1 while Skippylongstocking was let go at 21-1.
Horses can’t read tote boards, though, and when the field turned into the stretch, Skippylongstocking took off, eventually running past his stablemate to win by 1 ¾ lengths. It was another 5 ½ lengths back to third-place finisher Full Serrano.
“Coming around the turn, he just kept building,” said winning jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who grew up in Davie and attended Western High School. “And he just kept responding. When we got into the far turn and I had to split horses, as soon as I did he took a nice deep breath and started moving forward.”
Skippylongstocking was pulling away at the end.
Purchased for $37,000 as a 2-year-old, Skippylongstocking has now bankrolled more than $5.5 million for his owner, Daniel Alonso. But the major victories have always eluded him. Until Saturday, he had never won a Grade 1 race despite 11 previous attempts in what are the highest classification of races.
“It’s amazing,” Joseph said. “At 7 years old, he’s doing better than ever.”
Said Gaffalione: “I’m so thrilled for the team, and so happy for the horse. He really deserved this Grade 1 win. “
Joseph contemplated retiring the horse as recently as last month. But when Skippylongstocking won the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream on Dec. 20, Joseph decided to give him another shot.
“The Harlan’s Holiday was a big race,” Joseph said. “It was either he was going to show up or he was going to be retired. He showed up.”
Joseph knows both horses’ racing days are numbered.
“They’re going to be hard to replace,” Joseph said. “But right now, they still have a lot of run.”
Destino d’Oro, ridden by Junior Alvarado for trainer Brad Cox, closed with a late rush to win the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational, defeating Crevalle d’Oro by a half length. Last in the field of 12 soon after the start, Destino d’Oro mounted her winning move in the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes.
Test Score held off fast-closing stablemate One Stripe to win the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. Both horses are trained Graham Motion, with Manny Franco in the irons on the winner.
This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 7:59 PM.
